Triangle Transit is proposing a couple changes to its routes and one could result in a direct bus ride from downtown Raleigh to RDU airport. The route would also include the Research Triangle Park. (RTP) Try to keep up with all the acronyms.

Currently, the easiest way to get to the airport using Triangle Transit from downtown is to ride route 105 to the Regional Transit Center (RTC) in RTP. Then from there, you transfer to the 747 route and your way to the airport. 747, get it?

The proposal attempts to eliminate the transfer and offer a direct ride from the Moore Square station, up Hillsborough Street to Wade Avenue, and down I-40 to the airport. The route would run Monday through Saturday at these proposed times [broken link]. Check the Google map below for more details about the route and proposed stops.

The current schedule of events puts this route and other changes into affect in August 2010. These changes are open for comment so click on over to their site and let them know what you think.

The frequency of trips has me most interested. A 30-35 minute ride from downtown to the airport at 30 minute intervals during the AM and PM rush hours is a nice improvement. Make a note that the bus route stops at each terminal for easy access. The downtown Marriott and Sheraton are only a five or so minute walk away and the Clarion is right on Edenton Street where the route will go. You can’t say its not tempting to spend the $2 one-way ticket for a bus ride to the airport terminals compared to a $20 taxi.

I would prefer they use the Lumley entrance and send it down Glenwood. It’ll be a shorter trip inbound during evening rush hours.

Then let it run till 3am on weekends. That’s my biggest problem with local buses. They’ll be happy to move you from bar to bar, but they prefer to release all those drunks into the wild at the end of the night. We need late night transit out of downtown!

This would make the trip out to RDU much easier. I have taken the current route with the transfer in RTP and it takes a bit longer then 30 minutes and the pain of moving bags from one bus to another.
Hopefully this is just the start and Regional Rail service won’t be far behind.

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Your Comment

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Subscribe to our mailing list

Recent Comments

Very interesting! I am pleased to see that Raleigh is moving in the right direction regarding parking. I just read a very fascinating book that touched upon this subject: Walkable City by Jeff Speck. It... (Raleigh’s Parking Requirements)

Thanks Taco….I immediately figured that was the case when I saw the restaurant parking requirement, knowing full well no restaurant in downtown meets it. Interestingly, the downtown residential... (Raleigh’s Parking Requirements)

I just want to say I love the picture Leo used for the cover of this post – I’ve never seen that angle before! Almost didn’t recognize it as Raleigh, looking like a real city with all... (Raleigh’s Parking Requirements)

It is also important to know Downtown zoning has a completely separate set of requirements than those above based on parking occupancy stats and counts done near the time of the UDO Update: DX-... (Raleigh’s Parking Requirements)